When The War Is Over
by PerfectSoldier09
Summary: What did the pilots do when the fighting is over? First fic, written in 30 mins...take it easy with the flames.


Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing or any of the characters, names or related items.  
  
AN: I plan on doing one chapter for each pilot. Whether or not that is accomplished I am not sure of, but I will make an attempt.  
  
Chapter One  
  
Heero Yuy, Pilot 01  
  
When the war is over, what is a warrior to do?  
  
He watched her from above, like a guardian angel. He always had been, and he always would be.  
  
His mission was complete.  
  
The war was over, her dream of pacifism, True Peace, had been achieved. All military units had been destroyed; melted down. Parts of Leo units, Aires units, and even his own ZERO unit, were now rafters and supports for new colonies, or shielding for space shuttles.  
  
When the war is over, what is a warrior to do?  
  
He was at a loss. For once in his life, he didn't know what to do. One thing he knew for certain: he would forget. He would forget the wars, forget the many he had killed, forget his past and everyone from it.  
  
His life was now his own. He was free do with it what he chose.  
  
He left the hall, the only sign of his presence, a curtain, left rippling for mere seconds. Alone, in the dark of night, he felt at peace. Yet lost. He allowed his legs to carry him where they would. His mind wandered into places it dared not venture near in the past years. He allowed his mind, as his feet, to go where it would.  
  
'Who am I? What now? It's been a week. I've survived. Before now, life as anything other than a warrior was unimaginable. Would it be a good life? Would I feel unfulfilled? Would I be lost? Would it be more dangerous than the battlefields on which my past days were spent? Life, as a common man. Normal life. My Gundam was a cage, holding me in one place, like the animal I am portrayed as. I am not a beast. I am a man. A man with a free will of his own. I have a heart. I have a soul. I can think for myself, think freely. Will I forever be a soldier? Or will I be able to let go? My fate is uncertain, clouded and unknown. Before, my fate was hidden, concealed, kept from me like a precious secret. Not now. I have my life back. I can begin again. I can be who I want to be. I can do what I wan t to do, go where I want to go, think what I want to think. No more cages. No more chains binding me to soldiery like a prisoner. That's what I was, a prisoner. I was a prisoner of my own life. Is this considered parole? Is this only a taste of freedom? Will another foe rise up, as Mariemaya, and take my life from me once more, placing it in the palms of Dr. J? He is no longer my slave driver. No longer my master. I am my own master. I will do what I will.'  
  
He stopped, looked towards the Heavens.  
  
"I never noticed them," he whispered. "The stars. My birthplace." He continued walking.  
  
'They called me 'The Heart of Outer Space'. Some called me 'A Prince of the Stars'. Perhaps I deserve such titles. Perhaps I don't. Those who call me 'Heero' and not 'Hero' are the ones I cherish. My true name is lost to me now. I can't even remember it. Perhaps because I don't want to remember it. 'The past has passed' as they say.'  
  
His fingertips skimmed the surface of a metal rail. His boots dropped onto cement steps. Hearing sand then scrape against his shoes, he looked up.  
  
"The ocean." His voice was barely a breath of wind. The sun was beginning to rise.  
  
'It's been a while since I last watched the sun rise.'  
  
The air was chill at 06:00h. The waves offered comforts to him, for some reason lightening his heart. With the half-risen sun to his back, he ascended the cold cement steps, and wandered once more.  
  
A car slowed beside him. The pink paint indicated who would step up to him, but he continued walking. The car turned off, and a door slammed. His hands remained in his pockets, and his eyes still scanned the ground before him, his steps steady, and rhythmic.  
  
"Heero, good morning." Her voice was wide-awake and cheerful for 6:30 am.  
  
He made no response.  
  
Her steps sounded beside his own. She would stay beside him.  
  
'Things are as they should be.'  
  
"You don't have to watch over me anymore, Heero. The world is at peace now. You can leave if you wish."  
  
He stopped. His head tilted back towards the sky, his eyes searching the remaining diamonds in the sky.  
  
"If I wished to leave, I would have done so long ago." And he continued walking, his steady, rhythmic pace.  
  
"I want to thank you again for all that you've done for me," she murmured, her voice, as his, a gentle breeze.  
  
"I'm putting the past behind me. Everyone and everything in it no longer exist to me." The statement was firm, defiant.  
  
'But what have I to be defiant of? My anger? My hatred of those who imprisoned my soul for so many years?'  
  
"You're free now."  
  
"As are you."  
  
'You didn't know it, but you too were a prisoner. The wars took you captive. Forced you to stand stronger. It forced you to stand in the face of death.'  
  
"Yes, I know. What will you do now?"  
  
"Live. Live a life I have never experienced: a normal life."  
  
"You could never live a normal life, Heero," she chuckled. "The people of Earth and everyone in the colonies know who you are. Some praise you. Others curse you; wish for your death. Normal is out of the question." She seemed almost amused with the thought of him leading a normal life.  
  
"A peaceful life then." A suggestion to himself. "I'd like that I think."  
  
"Will you stay with me?" Her voice, so soft was it, an answer, he feared would shatter it.  
  
'If that happens, I'll simply pick up the pieces and put them together.'  
  
"I'll always be with you, regardless of where my body is. Death can't keep me from watching over you. I'll always be there: beside you, over your shoulder, leading you, or carrying you. I'll never leave."  
  
He felt her smile beside his shoulder.  
  
He stopped walking. He sat on a bench facing the golden waters. She sat beside him.  
  
'Always by my side.'  
  
Her hand touched his. Skittish twitches pulsed through her fingers as they traced his knuckles; some scarred.  
  
His voice was startling to her, as it broke the calm silence. "What will you do with your life now?"  
  
"Take a vacation for one thing," came her exasperated sigh of a response. "But I hope, someday, to find a husband, and maybe a few children."  
  
'It suits her but what about me? Would that be something to look into? Husband.'  
  
"You'd be good at it I think; being a mother."  
  
"What about you? Ever think of family? Not necessarily a wife and kids, but maybe locating relatives."  
  
"Never crossed my mind."  
  
'And I don't plan to start thinking about it now. What would I do if she were married? I'd seem a threat to her husband. What am I to her? A brother? It seems that way. I feel as though I need to approve of any man hoping for her heart. I feel protective. I'm not letting her go to a lesser man.'  
  
"Do you have someone in mind? For a husband I mean?"  
  
'Why do I need to know?'  
  
"Maybe." She was toying with him. Teasing him. He knew it. "Why? Would you be jealous if I did?"  
  
'Would I be jealous?'  
  
"Yes."  
  
"You would?"  
  
"That surprises you," he stated. "Why?"  
  
"I'm not sure."  
  
'Me, a husband? Would it work? Do I deserve her? Do I love her? Yes. Yes, yes again. What about children? Would I be a good father?'  
  
His eyes were locked onto the rolling waves.  
  
"Heero? What are you thinking about?"  
  
"Do I deserve you? Do I love you? Would I be a good husband; a father?"  
  
'Would I? A husband should be what his wife wants a man to be.'  
  
"What do you want your husband to be like?"  
  
"Like you."  
  
'Let go. You're free. Do what you want.'  
  
He smiled.  
  
"Do I deserve you?"  
  
"I think so, do you?"  
  
'Do I?'  
  
"I think so."  
  
"Do you love me?" She looked at him as she asked.  
  
"Yes." There was a pause. "What should a father be like?"  
  
"You can handle it. You've won tougher battles." A small giggle followed, most likely caused by a mental image of Heero holding several small, wild children.  
  
'Should I ask? Should I let her ask? Should I wait? I don't want to wait.'  
  
"Marry me?" His eyes turned to her, his lips half-smirking, his eyes gentle.  
  
"All right."  
  
'You won the first battle. Now, can you live up to the standards you set for yourself?'  
  
"It may take a while, but I'm going to loosen up. My life is my own now. I can do what I want with it."  
  
"Heero."  
  
His chin tilted towards her, his eyes calm.  
  
"I love you."  
  
'Yin and Yang. Male and female. Dark and light. Me and her.'  
  
"I love you."  
  
He was the first to kiss. Brief, soft, and loving.  
  
'I'm alive. I'm still alive. And I'm happy. As a man in my position should be. A wife, a son, a daughter, well, almost a daughter.'  
  
She called to him, rousing his relaxed body from the swaying hammock.  
  
A kiss for greeting, a smile to follow. Both she returned.  
  
"He wants a story."  
  
He smiled and a quiet laugh tumbled in his throat.  
  
A kiss for no reason, and returned the same. A child in his arms, holding a book.  
  
When the war is over, what is a warrior to do?  
  
Live.  
  
  
  
Read and Respond please. Comments and criticisms welcomed. If I get positive reviews I'll continue with Duo Maxwell's chapter next. 


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